Months after Saudi Arabia’s PIF ended its equity funding, LIV Golf was forced to file for bankruptcy so it could restructure with help from its new lead investors, London-based BC Partners. A reportedly crucial part of that deal is that enough current players must commit to what the breakaway tour is calling “LIV 2.0” in 2027. Unfortunately, veteran golf reporter Alan Shipnuck has bad news.
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“Cam Smith. He’s the only one I would say is in, unless the deals get sweetened,” Shipnuck told Dan on Golf about LIV players who may remain in the league next year. “I think Cam’s committed, I think [Jon] Rahm is gone. I think [Joaquín] Niemann likes LIV … but he still has a lot of fire in his belly, and he wants to conquer the world. So, I think he’s gone. Hatton is a wild card.
“Like, if he could play a lot of DP events and he could get into the majors, he’d throw in with LIV just to be a contrarian. But I think he’s kind of like a go-with-the-flow guy.”
The journalist, who wrote a book about LIV Golf’s Phil Mickelson, confirmed that, as the deal between LIV and BC Partners is structured, “they can’t fart around… players have to commit, deals have to be consummated” for the deal to happen. Shipnuck indicated that whether or not that happens, “we are going to know sooner rather than later.” For now, he described the league’s future as a “coin flip.”
The author also shed light on Bryson DeChambeau’s future with the league, claiming the two-time major winner remains conflicted.
“I talked to someone very close to Bryson. They’re like, ‘He’s totally in.’ And then he texts me the next day. He’s like, ‘Never mind. I might have gone wrong.’”
The journalist said there is a lot at stake for DeChambeau’s life and career, and that he does not think the Californian knows what he will do. Ultimately, neither he nor anyone else knows whether DeChambeau, whose contract expired in 2026, will remain with the tour. It’s worth noting that DeChambeau posted a cryptic “It was a good run” message on Instagram the day after LIV’s season finale in Indianapolis, when his contract expired.
DeChambeau has also said, in May, that if LIV folds he would focus on growing his vast YouTube channel while playing in tournaments that want him. Rahm has not said publicly whether he will play LIV in 2027. Asked at LIV Golf UK on July 21, he said he wouldn’t share anything he couldn’t share yet. In September, ahead of the BMW PGA Championship, he said a long legal process has to play out first and that he couldn’t give an answer right now.
Smith, whom Shipnuck viewed as the most likely to remain, has cast doubt on his future with the league, saying he needs answers before making a decision. But the bigger question is whether LIV players who want to leave the rebel league can return to the PGA Tour. After all, Brooks Koepka did so in January 2026, after leaving LIV in December 2025. There is currently no fast track back.
Koepka qualified for and used the Returning Member Program, but PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said in September that the Tour is “not currently contemplating” a similar program, and players who leave LIV still face a one-year suspension. In any case, if these players ultimately choose to remain with LIV, the proposed Chapter 11 restructuring calls for BC Partners and other new investors to invest $300 million to launch LIV 2.0, with $150 million coming from BC Partners and the remainder from other investors acceptable to BC Partners and LIV.
The reorganized league would adopt a player-owned model, with participating players holding a 52.5% stake, BC Partners and other new investors owning 45%, and management receiving the remaining 2.5% under an incentive plan. Once relaunched, LIV Golf 2.0 is expected to feature a reduced 10-event schedule in 2027, with five international team championships and five signature events.
The league plans to expand fields to around 75 players and introduce a cut and Monday qualifiers. Purses are reportedly set to drop to about $5.5 million for five events and $9.5 million for the other five, though LIV has not confirmed those figures. Until official word comes, everything remains up in the air.